The parable of the marriage feast (Matthew 22:1-14) presents the initial invitation given to Jews. To support our previous section, this text shows that there is some time between the invitation and the wedding but is reasonable to assume that it would occur in their lifetime. It would be unreasonable to send an invitation to people who were expected to be dead before the event.
The day before delivering this parable, Jesus makes His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He went to the Temple and drove all that was sold and bought in the Temple. The following day, when Jesus delivers this parable, the chief priests and elders asked him, “By what authority do you do these things?” The parable of the marriage feast was one of the three parables he gave that day. The one previous to it was about the wicked husbandmen and when Jesus asked them what the Master of the vineyard should do to those wicked husbandmen who abused his faithful servants and killed the Master’s son, they correctly answered, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men and let out the vineyard to other husbandmen.” Even though they answered correctly, they were indicting themselves and perceived that he spoke of them, after Jesus had finished (Matthew 21:46). Whether they perceived, it or not, Jesus’ parables were most often addressed to the Jewish leaders, who were representatives of the first covenant.
The parable of the marriage feast is similar to the parable of the wicked husbandmen. After receiving the invitation, they abused and killed the faithful servants who invited them as guests. The king was angry and sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Matthew 22:7-8 reads,
Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
In the parable of the ten virgins, Jesus had just predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24 and this parable falls in that same period and context that depicts the gathering of the elect immediately after the great tribulation suffered by Jerusalem and the surrounding cities of the Jews. On again, we see the marriage of the Lamb makes place soon after the burning of Jerusalem.
The five wise virgins were prepared for the coming of the groom and would be allowed to celebrate in the festivities of the feast. The five foolish virgins were “left behind” or on the outside of a closed-door (1 Thess. 4:13-18). The five wise who were found blameless at the coming of the Lord were translated into life in the same way Enoch was translated (cf. 1 Cor. 15:50-58). Consequently, the judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 ought to be identified with the same judgment referenced in Revelation 11:18 which Jesus tells John would come to pass shortly (Rev.1:1-3) and followed the fall of that great city where our Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8, 13, 18). This opened up the heavenly temple (Heb. 9:8, Rev. 11:1-19).
Another fact regarding the timing of these events concerns the apostles and their redemption. When Jesus commissioned his apostles in Matthew 10:22-23, he told them that whoever endures to the end would be saved. The “end” is the same end of Matthew 24 when they asked about the time of the “end of the age.” But, he warns them of persecution which implies the pursuit of the enemy and their moving through the cities of Israel to flee from them. In that context, he adds, “Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel til the Son of Man is come (Matt. 10:23). Later, Jesus tells Peter what business it is of his if He wills that John remains till he comes (John 21:23).